The present invention relates generally to compass assemblies and, more specifically, to an orienteering compass with a rotating dial.
A conventional orienteering compass assembly may comprise a magnetized compass pointer encased in a housing and suspended as by liquid or a rod, etc. The housing is received in a dial member which is in turn received in a base. The dial member may have printed on a visible surface thereof degree markers corresponding to heading directions, e.g. 0.degree. indicates due North, 180.degree. indicates due South, etc. In use, a degree marker that corresponds to the desired direction of travel is aligned with a mark on the base, this mark on the base including an arrow or other indication of direction. When the "North" indicator on the compass pointer is aligned with the "North" indicator on the dial member, the mark/arrow on the base points to the desired direction of travel.
With such compasses, it is desirable that the dial member be relatively easy to rotate and yet be adapted to retain its position at a selected degree marker. Therefore, a biasing member is included in most such compass assemblies to control the rotation of the dial member. Typical prior art biasing members used for this purpose comprise a spring clip member which is mounted in a sidecut recess in the compass base and which engages a grooved portion of the dial member to provide resistance to turning and to prevent disassembly of the pieces. However, use of such a biasing member usually requires "undercuts" in the plastic parts, which requires expensive molding and tooling.
It would be generally desirable to provide an orienteering compass assembly having a biased dial member which is relatively inexpensive to produce.